Cell diameter (largest of any bacteria)

Value 180 µm Range: 100-750 µm
Organism Bacteria Thiomargarita namibiensis
Reference Schulz HN, Brinkhoff T, Ferdelman TG, Marine MH, Teske A, Jorgensen BB. Dense populations of a giant sulfur bacterium in Namibian shelf sediments. 1999. Science. 284(5413):493-495. p.494 right column 2nd paragraphPubMed ID10205058
Method "Electron micrographs showed that the cytoplasm was restricted to a thin outer layer of 0.5- to 2-µm thickness. The remaining 98% of the biovolume consisted of a liquid vacuole."
Comments "Most cells had diameters of 100 to 300µm (Fig. 2B). Most cells in a chain were of a similar diameter (Fig. 2C), but in some chains a single cell occurred with a much larger diameter of up to 750µm. These extremely large forms also occurred as single cells (Fig. 1A). The average Thiomargarita with a diameter of 180µm had a volume of 3X10^6µm^3, whereas the largest observed cells had a biovolume of 200X10^6µm^3."
Entered by Phil Mongiovi
ID 102207